新理念外语网络教学平台第二版综合答案B2U8-E(6)

第二册第八单元-E

Section B

Directions: There are several passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice.

Passage One

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Imagine a mass of floating waste is two times the size of the state of Texas. Texas has a land area of more than 678,000 square kilometers. So it might be difficult to imagine anything twice as big.

All together, this mass of waste flowing in the North Pacific Ocean is known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It weighs about 3,500,000 tons.

The eastern part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is about l,600 kilometers west of California. The western part is west of the Hawaiian Islands and east of Japan. The area has been described as a kind of oceanic desert，with light winds and slow moving water currents. The water moves so slowly that garbage from all over the world collects there.

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the floating garbage and its effect on sea creatures and human health. Scientists say thousands of animals get trapped in the floating waste, resulting in death or injury. Even more die from a lack of food or water after swallowing pieces of plastic.

The floating garbage can also have harmful effects on people. There is an increased threat of infection of disease from polluted waste, and from eating fish that swallowed waste. Divers can also get trapped in the plastic.

Its existence first gained public attention in l997. That was when racing boat captain and oceanographer Charles Moore and his crew sailed into the garbage while returning from a racing event. Five years earlier, another oceanographer learned of the trash after a shipment of rubber ducks got lost at sea. Many of those toys are now part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.

In August, 2009, a team from the University of California, San Diego became the latest group to travel to it. They were shocked by the amount of waste they saw. They gathered hundreds of sea creatures and water samples to measure the garbage patch's effect on ocean environment.

31.

How did the writer introduce the topic of the passage?

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